Every day, millions of content creators across the globe create all kinds of video content and almost all of those videos have a relevant musical score to go along. Back then, getting music for your video was an expensive deal but with millions of people creating video content, there are now hundreds of sites available to download all kinds of music for video content. From free classical scores to instrumentals, from corporate music to film scores, the options are unlimited.

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Where do you find the right kind of music for your video and what type of music license should you use. There is often confusion when it comes to using royalty-free, stock-music and tailormade music especially since there are hundreds of companies and platforms offering all kinds of services. This post will help you gain a quick understanding of the three types of music rights and who is the perfect audience for them.

Knowing About the Different Types of Music License

The three most common types of music license are royalty-free, stock-free and tailormade music and each of them has vendors charging different price plans and membership fees. You will need to identify your requirements and budget before you buy any of the options given below.

Royalty-free music

‘Royalty’ means paying a musician or artist a certain amount of money every time their music is used for any personal or commercial purpose. Royalty-free music, therefore, refers to music that is available for use but there is no need to pay the artist royalty. Some websites offer royalty-free music against a certain fee that is paid just one time and you can use the music for as long as you want with no obligations to pay the artist. Some websites offer royalty-free music completely free and you don’t have to pay any money for it.
Note that some royalty-free music is prohibited for commercial use as well so be careful when you’re choosing music options for your company or for commercial purposes. It’s always best to either talk to customer-support of the royalty-free site or to search for options that allow commercial use.

The most common royalty-free music site is YouTube Audio Library that has a large collection of royalty-free audio library that you can use in your project. It’s literally for free and you don’t have to spend a dime. You can browse for music based on mood, genre, instrument and duration. You can also use hundreds of sound effects available for FREE!

An expensive option is PremiumBeat which offers a license for just one music track but the pricing differs according to non-commercial or commercial use. For $59, you can buy one music track that you can use for non-commercial purposes. For commercial purposes, you will need to pay $199/track.

Stock Music

There is often a confusion of royalty-free music with stock music. In a nutshell, stock music is a large library, consisting of royalty-free music as well as production music. The term production music is for music that is produced by audio companies for corporate businesses. Users can access thousands of soundtracks against a membership fee.

Also considered as production music, stock music are not necessarily RF music or artistic music rather they are music created to suit the needs of marketing firms and media agencies.  Once you sign up, you can access millions of soundtrack that you can use for all your commercial and non-commercial projects.  Some of the most common sites are:

AudioBlocks.com: Starting from $8/month, you can access an unlimited library of music, sound-effects and collections. If you’re willing to pay $29/month, you can access 4K footages, AfterEffects templates and photos along with the music library.

StockMusic.Net:  RF Music from the world’s best musician to be used for radio, TV and podcasting. Although it’s expensive, at $3499.95, it is a premium option for media houses and film production companies.

Pond5: Both RF and production music available under different price tags. You can buy individual music or you can buy a monthly license and get access to music as well as stock footage.

Tailormade music

Don’t want music that is already used by other businesses? Tailormade music is the third type of music option where companies create music based on your preference. Tailormade music is specially created for you which means no one else uses the same music as you! Some companies offering tailor-made music are:

GetAtmosphere: Custom-made music relevant to the brand created by in-house musicians and experts. Ideal for businesses looking for music that is carefully curated to represent their brand. Get in touch to find out pricing.

SoundMachine: You can create your own music from millions of songs for $24.95/month or you can avail an enterprise solution after getting in touch with customer support. The pricing for enterprise solution is customized according to your business requirements.

MobileSteam: The team specializes in creating songs, give live performance, and create audio branding. Their purpose is to disrupt commercial music and create music for the people who make up the company itself.

There are plenty of tailormade music companies out there with different pricing options and services catering to a wide range of industries. Whether you’re a non-profit or a corporate, a school or a university, you can get tailormade music by experts who work with you to deliver music that represents your brand.

So in conclusion, what music option is best for your explainer video? For entrepreneurs, businesses and content makers who simply want easily-available music in their explainer videos, the RF options are always the best. For people who have to work frequently with explainer videos for their clients or who have a digital agency, getting a premium stock music subscription is the best. Finally, for brands and established organizations that want to maintain originality and uniqueness, a tailor-made option may be the best.

Illustration credit: https://dribbble.com/lawniczak